The present invention relates generally to a drawer slide, and more particularly, to an auto-close dampening system incorporated into the drawer slide with a reset feature.
Drawer slides are mounted to opposed sides of a drawer box to allow the drawer box to slide in and out of a cabinet or other frame. In certain instances, the drawer slides assist the user in closing the drawer box to the fully closed position. Additionally, once the drawer box is in the fully closed position, the drawer slides maintain the drawer box in the closed position despite external forces that may urge the drawer box to the opened position. In operation, as the user pushes the drawer box closed, an auto close mechanism engages the drawer box at the end of the closing section and gently pulls the drawer box to the fully closed position and maintains the drawer box in the closed position. Unfortunately, sometimes the auto close mechanism fails or malfunctions. In this instance, the auto close mechanism is rendered inoperable. The auto close mechanism fails to pull the drawer box to the fully closed position. Also, when the auto-close mechanism is inoperable, the drawer box may inadvertently be traversed to the opened position. If the drawer box is employed in an airplane or is meant to be earthquake proof, then the drawer box would open as the plane rolls or pitches or during the occurrence of an earthquake. To render the auto-close mechanism operable once again, the drawer box and frame of the drawer must be disassembled to fix the auto-close mechanism.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved more reliable auto close mechanism and a more convenient method to fix a malfunctioning auto-close mechanism.